In recent years, various structures have been provided to form a portable sheet bending brake for bending metal or plastic sheets such as are used in siding on homes and buildings. Typical patents comprise U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,161,223, 3,481,173, 3,482,427, 3,559,444, 3,817,075, 3,872,755 and 4,321,817.
Such brakes comprise a fixed member on which the sheet is clamped and a movable bending member for bending the sheet. A major problem with respect to such sheet bending brakes is the tendency of the bending member to move relative to the portion of the sheet being bent and thereby mar the surface of the sheet.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,233, the tendency to mar the surface of the sheet material was minimized by having the intermeshing integral projection between the fixed member and bending member which extend longitudinally and define the hinge that connects the bending member with the fixed member having the clamping surfaced, positioned so that all portions of the projections do not extend above the plane of the surface of the members when the surfaces are substantially aligned.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,481,174 and 3,482,427 were directed to an arrangement which included a floatable compensator on the bending member which engages the sheet material and as the bending member is swung to bend the sheet pivots so that the contact with the sheet material is maintained.
Accordingly among the objectives of the present invention and are to provide a sheet metal bending brake which is relatively light in weight, portable and less costly and a stabilizing assembly to prevent the brake from tipping when a workpiece of thicker cross section is bent.
In accordance with the invention, there has been provided a sheet bending brake and stabilizing assembly wherein the sheet bending brake alone is constructed and arranged such that when a workpiece is clamped for bending when a person stands on the floor facing the handle means and the handle means is grasped and raised in a direction away from the person in order to move the handle means and raise the handle means, forces occur which prevent the handle means from moving sufficiently to produce a predetermined bend and the forces cause the entire sheet bending brake to tip away from the person about the portions of the legs which project outwardly from the bending brake and thus prevent the movement of the bending member relative to the first member and prevent bending of the workpiece. The stabilizing assembly for counteracting such forces on the sheet bending brake comprises transversely spaced rails receiving at least a portion of the ends of the leg assemblies. The transversely spaced rails which receive at least a portion of the leg assemblies have portions extend outwardly from beneath the sheet bending brake beyond the brake toward the side of the brake from which the handle member and handle means are accessible. Longitudinally extending rail means interconnecting the transverse rails. The longitudinally extending rail is attached to the portions. The weight and positioning of the sheet bending brake, leg assemblies and rail are such that a person standing on the floor and facing the side of the brake, grasping and raising the handle means, forces opposing bending are not counteracted and the bending can not be achieved and such that the person must place one foot or both feet on the longitudinally extending rail means during the movement of the bending member away from the person for performing the bending to a desired bend without tipping of the bending brake away from the person and permit movement of the bending member relative to the first member to bend the workpiece.